Ministry of Justice

Tribunals: Fees and Charges

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish their review of the impact of fees on the tribunal system.

Lord Faulks: We will announce the conclusions of our review of fees in the Employment Tribunals in due course.

Human Rights Act 1998

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the level of opposition from Scottish stakeholders to any repeal of the Act.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the views of Scottish stakeholders on the argument that the Human Rights Act 1998 undermines the sovereignty of the UK Parliament and democratic accountability.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the concept of "mission creep" as a characterisation of the European Court on Human Rights’ jurisprudence.

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor in respect of the relevance of the specific position of Scotland in the devolution settlement and the role of the Sewel Convention.

Lord Faulks: This Government was elected with a mandate to reform and modernise the UK human rights framework. We will consider the devolution implications of our reforms and will continue to engage fully with stakeholders in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and with the devolved administrations, as we develop our proposals.

Human Rights Act 1998

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in considering the future of the Human Rights Act 1998, what regard they will have to the findings of the Scottish Parliament’s European and External Relations Committee as outlined in the letter of 17 March from the Convener of that Committee to the Lord Chancellor on the proposal for the Supreme Court to function as a constitutional court and in particular that it would require "significant constitutional change" and would pose "practical problems" for Scotland’s separate legal system.

Lord Faulks: The Prime Minister indicated last year that he wanted to examine the way that Germany and other EU nations uphold their constitution and sovereignty. We have considered the Committee’s report with interest and will consult fully on our proposals for a Bill of Rights in due course.

Cabinet Office

Migration

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will publish the net migration statistics for 2015.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to PEER - Migration Statistics
(PDF Document, 115.58 KB)

Public Sector: Procurement

Lord Myners: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have reviewed the implementation of the recommendations on public sector procurement made by Sir Philip Green; and whether they will ask Sir Philip to conduct a further review on policy options to reduce government borrowing.

Lord Bridges of Headley: Sir Phillip's report contributed enormously to the development of the Coalition Government's policies in respect of common goods and services. Many of the recommendations have been taken forward, including the creation of the Crown Commercial Service. The Crown Commercial Service brings together policy, advice and direct buying, providing commercial services to the public sector and saving money for the taxpayer.The 2016 Budget announced that The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, with the support of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, will lead an efficiency review, reporting in 2018. We will set out details of this in due course.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Stem Cells

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Drayson on 5 May 2009 (WA 95–6) and by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 8 June 2015 (HL44), why the latter stated that "derivation of ESC lines was not a primary aim of the project" in the light of the former Answer stating that the "primary aim of the MRC’s award to the University of Newcastle … was to incorporate technological advances to improve the efficiency of SCNT in human oocytes and develop a reproducible method of generating human embryonic stem cells following the transfer of the nucleus of an adult somatic cell into an oocyte"; and what assessment they have made of why that previously stated primary aim has still not been achieved despite the increased number of "freshly harvested oocytes donated specifically for this research" and the "help and advice given by Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov" as acknowledged in Scientific Reports 4, article 3844.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: To provide the Noble Peer with a detailed reply on this technical issue, I have asked the Medical Research Council to write to you with on this matter. I will place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.